The Definition of "Is"

I did not sit down this morning to write another political blog, but as I thought about my reading in Paul’s letter to the Romans, Bill Clinton came to mind when I realized how important the meaning of little words can be. In Romans 11:26, Paul said, “And so all Israel will be saved.” One can toy with the definition of the word “so” in much the same way Bill Clinton did with “is” back in 1998. The words “all” and “Israel” can also be treated to delicate parsing. The only way to define any word properly is to define it in context.

I will begin with Israel. This is not a little word, and its meaning in Scripture varies somewhat. The context of Paul’s letter to the Gentiles in Rome is crucial to defining “Israel” in Romans 11:26. Back in chapter 9, where the context of Paul’s discussion begins, he clearly defines Israel as something other than simply a person descended from Abraham. (See Romans 9:6-8) He proceeds to make the point that even among those directly descended from Abraham, God made distinctions as to who was a true heir of the promise. Paul goes further to prove that even among the chosen genetic line, only those who responded by faith were considered “Israel.” This follows logically from his discussion back in chapter 4 about Abraham being justified by faith alone.

Because “Israel” has a specific meaning that refers only to those found faithful to God, one must consider what the word “all” means as Paul used it. To insist that he was including everyone born in the line of Abraham would be to contradict the point he was making in chapters 4-11. Given Paul’s context, it is perfectly reasonable to think he meant all those who qualify as Israel by his definition, which does not have a genetic qualifier, but a spiritual one. All the faithful, Jew or Gentile, will be saved.

This brings us to the little word that started my thinking: so. According to the Greek dictionary, “so” is best translated as “in this manner.” We might say, “Like so” meaning “like this.” The “manner” to which Paul referred was the qualifier of faith. By faith, he asserts, all who are chosen by God will be saved whether born in Abraham’s line or not. Jews and Gentiles alike are saved in the same manner: by faith. “All Israel” will be saved by faith, but not by the Jewish law; this has been Paul’s theme for several chapters. To make Romans 11:26 mean that all ethnic Jews will be saved someday is preposterous.

So I say parodying Bill Clinton, it depends on your definition of “all.” I have heard people say, “All means all, and that’s all all means.” If language were simplistic, and words did not vary in meaning due to contextual usage, that would be true. But it’s not true. “All” has various shades of meaning that must be determined by the context in which it is used. I am not suggesting that some Bible interpreters are telling the truth with the intent to deceive; I am saying that it is imperative that Bible interpretation relies on exegesis rather than eisegesis; we must “read out” what is in Scripture rather than “read into” a passage what we want it to say to support a presupposition.

It is normal human behavior to want to fit things into a scheme we can understand. The problem comes when our attempt to make something fit ends up violating proper principles of interpretation. Michael Heiser makes this point dramatically in his book, Unseen Realm, and his other writings. While earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Semitic Studies, he interpreted the Old Testament using the popular paradigm until someone caused him to see the fault in the pattern he had been using. Correcting the fault brought new insight comparable to having new revelation from God.

The same thing can happen in the rest of our lives. People, political parties, or the police can be misunderstood when viewed through a faulty system of interpretation. You spend years thinking someone hates you only to discover that they are just introverted and can’t express themselves. Or you think Republicans are the party of rich people until you discover that conservative economic policies actually benefit those at every income level. Or you are scared of the police because you have been taught that they are evil, and then you realize that most of them are decent people trying their best to do an incredibly difficult, dangerous public service.

The key to understanding anything is not mental or emotional; it is spiritual. There is only one viewpoint that will flawlessly give us the correct perspective. We must try to see everything as God sees it. As believers, we have the great blessing of the indwelling Holy Spirit to aid us in getting God’s perspective. Obviously, we need the Spirit’s help to interpret Scripture, but it is equally important to seek His guidance in all of life. God knows the correct definition of every word ever written and the true motivation behind every action. Ask Him for understanding. James 1:5 says He will always come through with the correct answer. After all, He is the God Who Is.

Don’t be a Moron

 I experienced another confluence today that got me thinking. My Bible reading is in the first chapters of Romans where Paul harshly criticizes unbelievers for ignoring what can be known of God and living lives of unrighteousness and debauchery. He certainly pulls no punches. Then my devotional reading of Charles Spurgeon took off from the verse, “The sword of the Lord and the sword of Gideon.” Spurgeon developed the idea that believers must rely totally on God to accomplish His work (the sword of the Lord), and at the same time do whatever is humanly possible to bring God’s will to pass (the sword of Gideon).

The problem came when Spurgeon said, “go out personally and serve with our flaming torch of holy example, and with our trumpet tones of earnest declaration and testimony.” I am mostly successful in living a life that is a worthy example of a believer, but the second half of the admonition gives me trouble. If Paul’s condemnation in Romans is an example of “earnest declaration,” I can’t see how that will win many friends or influence people to turn to Christ. I used to be quite bold in that regard, and I was told to go someplace hot and uncomfortable on several occasions. I even had fellow-believers tell me to tone it down.

The problem is that many people, perhaps most people are not aware that they are “lost in sin.” The entire concept of sin has been mostly washed from the consciousness of our modern society. “Values clarification” as taught in public schools has strengthened the natural inclination of humans to go their own way regarding moral structures. Unfortunately, sin and its consequences are not frequent topics of sermons even in evangelical churches. In our post-modern society where truth itself is scoffed, telling someone they are wrong is a sure way to lose an audience.

The situation has become even more difficult with the codification of politically correct speech standards and the criminalization of certain topics. There are places in America where a sermon on Romans 2 would be considered hate speech and place the preacher in jeopardy of criminal charges. It has already happened in Canada and the UK. I am not suggesting we go as far as Pastor Steven Anderson and call for stoning, but the simple message that God disapproves of homosexual behavior is no longer safe under First Amendment protection.

It is not only pushing legal boundaries to speak the truth (in love, of course), but the workplace is being gradually converted to a no-speak zone. I have spent the last two years working at an organization that would reprimand me, and should I not cease, fire me for proclaiming the Bible standard for sexual relationships. I was required to take annual harassment training that explicitly forbade any judgment of a person’s sexual preferences. The same type of training was required at the academic institution where I last taught. A similar prohibition exists for recommending the biblical roles of husband and wife, and biblical parental discipline has been criminalized as well. The list of things believers cannot talk about continues to grow.

It is ironic to the point of hypocrisy that the tolerance and inclusion demanded by political correctness specifically excludes Christian, biblical proclamation. We are being asked to tolerate everything except the beliefs that are based in biblical truth. I see the enemy’s hand in this situation so clearly that I am disappointed that Christians have not stood up and cried foul. Biblical standards of behavior and expressions of faith are being systematically removed and forbidden from Western society.

The situation I have been describing is built into the political platform of one of the major parties in this country. I have written previously that I am disturbed by the fact that thinking Christians can say there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats. I read a blog recently that called for Christians to be tolerant of fellow-believers’ differing political affiliations. The writer believes that any vote is a vote for the lesser of two evils. This may be true, but when one of the “evils” involves openly denying the right of Christians to express and live their faith while encouraging infanticide (aka abortion), homosexual lifestyles, deficit spending, disrespecting law enforcement and celebrating anarchy (calling it patriotism), this “evil” cannot be a legitimate choice for a believer. Each of the positions I mentioned plainly tramples a biblical principle.

My Christian friends are all over Facebook complaining about the flood of political ads we are being subjected to. I am there too; I mute them or change the channel, especially when they are so easily recognizable as distortions of the truth (aka lies) that anyone who cares to investigate can discern. But we must not tune out to the point of idiocy. It would be idiotic, moronic to use the biblical term, not to seek the truth and vote our convictions.

A biblical moron is one who does not make the attempt to follow God. I believe that there is a more godly choice in the upcoming election – note I did not say a more godly man; all the candidates are human and therefore fallible. But if a Christian votes for a platform rather than for a candidate, there can be only one choice. That is an intolerant statement. Paul was explicitly intolerant in his Roman letter. Jesus was quite intolerant of the hypocrites of His day. If I offend, I do not apologize; Jesus was called the stone of stumbling and the rock of offense. What I am offended by is morons – in the biblical sense.

Related articles: “Christians are Responsible to be Politically Engaged” “What Does it Mean to be an American” “How Could a Christian Vote for Hillary?” “Hooray! We Won. Now What?”

Bringing the Kingdom

Some truths presented in the Bible are easy to understand; others, not so much. On one level, we can comprehend that God loved the world so much that He sent His Son to save it. As humans created in God’s image, we can identify with God’s love and His desire to bring His creation back into fellowship. Because God’s image in humans also includes a sense of justice, it wouldn’t seem right to let everybody back in without a cost. We realize that because the fellowship was broken by human misbehavior, some kind of restitution had to be made. Jesus accomplished that by His substitutionary death on the cross.

If we step back from the simple concepts of love and justice, we can look deeper into why God brought humans and this universe into existence in the first place. The language in Genesis where God discusses His purpose in creation introduces the concept of a kingdom – rulership. Genesis 1:26 says, “And God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image and according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every moving thing that moves upon the earth.’” Adam was to have been the vice-regent of the creation of God.

Genesis 2 reveals that God placed Adam in a special place called the Garden of Eden. It was Adam’s responsibility to take care of the Garden and cause it to expand, eventually covering the whole earth. Sadly, Genesis 3 recounts the disobedience of Adam and Eve as they chose to make their own terms of regency instead of following God’s directions. Because they would not do things His way, God expelled them from the perfect conditions of the Garden and left them to live with the consequences of choosing to go their own way. The consequences they inherited from their rebellion continue on earth to this day. They were forced to exist in a world of blood, sweat and tears with only glimpses of the joy they had known in the Garden.

Even though God kicked His prince and princess out of the Garden, He did not abandon them. Immediately after their expulsion, they were given a glimmer of hope that all was not lost. The evil character who incited their rebellion was told that a day would come when he would pay for his indiscretion. The Seed of the woman would one day take back the rulership of the kingdom of Earth. In Matthew 4 the evil character from the Garden, the Devil, offers to give Jesus the kingdoms of Earth if He will worship him. Of course, Jesus refuses, but He did not correct the Devil’s assertion that the kingdom of Earth was his to give.

Now we are back to the cross I mentioned earlier. When Jesus willingly gave His life for all humans, the mistake of Adam was erased, and the rulership of the kingdom of Earth was returned to God’s chosen ruler. Except it wasn’t. Here is where it gets hard for earth-bound humans to understand. The kingdom of Earth was returned to its rightful ruler at the cross of Calvary, but the enemy of God did not slink away in defeat. He continues to fight a losing battle to maintain his rulership. In 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul confirms this by calling Satan the god of this age. The rule of Heaven was brought to Earth by Jesus, but the battle to establish that rule continues.

This is the “already/not yet” idea made popular by George Eldon Ladd. As explained in the Faithlife Study Bible notes, “God’s kingdom has a dual dimension. Jesus initiated the kingdom on earth, and wherever God’s will is carried out, the kingdom is a reality. The kingdom, however, had not been fully manifested in Jesus’ day—nor has it in ours. We do not yet live in a world where God’s will is a complete reality. We feel the tension of experiencing God’s kingdom in our lives and communities before it is fully realized. We still see unbelief, brokenness, and sin, telling us God’s will is not yet fully expressed.”

It is our responsibility as believers, as God’s chosen representatives in Christ to bring the kingdom of Heaven to Earth. Where we see unbelief, we must share faith. Where we see brokenness, we must bring healing. Where we see sin, we must call it sin. Where we see injustice, we must advocate for justice. In all these things, we must follow the principles of righteousness revealed to us in Scripture. We can’t right a wrong with a wrong. We cannot use kingdom of Earth methods to bring Kingdom of Heaven results.

Because our human flesh rises up in the face of evil, we tend to do evil in response. However, disrespecting authority (as ordained by God) and acting violently (as condemned by Scripture) will not bring the Kingdom. If we are going to maintain fellowship with God, we must walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7); to walk in darkness is to deny the One who brought us out of the kingdom of darkness into His wonderful light (1Peter 2:9). The flames burning in our communities today are fueled by darkness; they advance the kingdom of darkness. We have to bring the light.

Because the “not yet” dimension of the Kingdom of Heaven is spiritual, our best weapons are spiritual. As Paul told the Ephesians, “Our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” His directive was to always stand in the armor of light provided by Christ and pray – especially in times like these. The promise of God to His people long ago still stands: “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and will pray and will seek my face and will turn from their evil ways, then I myself shall hear from the heavens and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”

As Micah said, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does Yahweh ask from you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” That’s how we bring the Kingdom.